The Snow Killings

August 7, 2020

Retired Detroit News reporter Keenan has covered the Oakland County, MI, Child Killer Investigation since 2009, when new evidence came to light. In 1976-77, four children were abducted, sexually assaulted, and held for several days before they were murdered and their bodies dumped. While looking into these crimes--still not fully resolved--investigators uncovered a "seemingly endless cesspool of pedophiles" that led to a large pool of suspects. Cory Williams of the Livonia Police Department took up the probe after being assigned a cold case homicide in 2004 that resulted in the discovery of a child pornography ring. Williams and Keenan believe that the most likely suspect was Christopher Busch, the son of a GM executive who successfully kept him out of prison on several child molestation charges. Busch is long dead, having possibly taken his own life; he also likely had several accomplices. Each chapter reads like an in-depth newspaper article, and while the shifting time periods can be confusing, this is a page-turner nonetheless. Readers will ache for the family members of Mark Stebbins, Jill Robinson, Kristine Mihelich, and Timothy King, and be outraged at the incompetent and seemingly petty divisiveness of the investigators. VERDICT A moving, well-crafted narrative for true crime buffs.--Karen Sandlin Silverman, Mt. Ararat Middle Sch., Topsham, ME

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